Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1887-08-27
THE WORST on RECORD.
Over One Hundred Lives Lost by q
Bridge Disaster.

-HICAGO, ILL, August Ill he
Chicago Times special from Forest,
H., says: All the railway horrors in the
history of this country were surpassed
three miles east of Chatsworth last
night, when an excursion train on the
Toledo, Peoria and Western road
dropped through burning bridge. and
over 100 people were killed, and four
times that number more or less badly
injured. The train was composed OF six
sleeping-cars, day coachas and chair
cars, and three baggage-cars. 1t was
carrying $50 passengers, all excursion
lists, and was bound for Niagara Falls.
The train had been made up all along
the line for the Toledo, Peoria and
Western road, and the excursionists
hailed from various points in Central
Illinois, the bulk of them, however,
coming from Peoria. Some of the
passengers came from Canton, from
FL Poso, Washington, and in fact all
stations along the line, some from as
far west as Burlington and keokuk, la.
A special and cheap rate had been
made for the excursion, and all sorts of
people took advantage of it. When the
train drew out of Peoria, at ) o'clock
last evening, it was loaded to its ut
most capacity. Every berlh in the six
sleepers was taken, and the day cars
carried sixty people each. The train
was so heavy that two engines were
hitched to it, and when it passed this
place it was an hour and half behind
time.
THE TREsTLE on FIRE.
Chatsworth, the next station from
here, is six miles OF and the run ther e
was made in minutes, 50 the terrible
momentum of those fifteen coaches and
two heavy engines, shooting through
space at the rate of mile a minute,
can be understood. No stop was made
at Chatsworth, and on and on the
heavy train, with its living freight,
sped through the darkness of the night.
Three miles east of ChatswUrth is a
little slough and where the railroad
track crosses dry run about ten feet
deep and about fifteen feet wide. Over
this was stretched an ordinary wooden
trestle bridge, and as the excursion
train came laundering down on it,
what was the horror of the engineer on
the front engine when he saw this
bridge was afire. Right up before his
eyes leaped the bright flames and the
next instance he was among them.
There was no chance to stop, had there
been warning, it would have taken
half a mile to stop that one mass Of
wood, iron human lives, and the train
was within 100 yards of the red-tongued
messengers of death before they
flashed their fatal signals into the
engineers face. But he passed over in
safety, the first engine keeping the
rails. AS it went over, the bridge fell
beneath it, and it could have only been
the terrific speed OF the train that
saved the lives of the engineer and his
fireman.
But the next engine went down and
instantly the deed of death was done.
Car crashed into car, coaches piled one
top of another. and in tw!nkling of
an eye nearly 100 people found instant
death aud fifty more were so hurt they
could not live. As for the wounded
they were everywhere. Only the sleep
ing coaches escaped, and rs the startled
and half dressed passengers came
tumbllng cut OF them, they found such
a scene Of death as is rarely witnessed,
and such work to do that it seemed as
ifhuman hands were utterly incapable.
Instantly the air was filed with the
cries Of the wounded and the shrieks
of those about to die. The groans OF
men and the screams of women united
to make an appalling sound, and above
all could be heard the agonizing cries
of little children as in some instances
they lay pinned alongside their dead
parents.
No sooner had the wreck occurred
then a scene Of robbery commenced.
Some band of unspeak able miscreants,
heartless and with only criminal
instincts, was on hand, and like the
guerrillas who throng battlefield the
night after the conflict and rob from
the dead the money which they re-
celyed for their meager pay, stealing
even the bronze medals and robbing
from the children of heroes the other
emblems Of their fathers bravery, so
last night did these human hyenas
plunder the dead from this terrible &C
cident, and take even the shoes which
covered their feet. Who these wretches
are is not now known.
There was one incident of the acci-
dent which stood out more horrible
than all Of those horrible scenes. In the
second coach was a man, his wife and
little child. His name could not be
but is said he got on at Peoria.
When the accident occurred the entire
family of three was caught and held
down by broken woodwork. Finally,
when relief came, the man turned to
the friendly aid and feebly said; Take
out my wife first. l am afraid the
child is dead" So they carried out the
mother, ard as q broken seat was
taken OF her crushed breast the blood
which welled from her lips showed
that she was hurt. They carried the
child-a fair-haired, blue-eyed girl of 3
and laid her in the cornileld, dead,
alongside of her diving mother, Then